Seed-to-Sale Payment Hub's $2.86 Million Funding Moves the Legal Cannabis Business Even Closer
USA News Group News Commentary
15 Nov, 2017, 14:00 GMT
LOS ANGELES, November 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
USA News Group - One area that has continued to be elusive for legal cannabis businesses is payment processing. Banks and financial institutions are still reticent to back the weed business, but PayQwick, a new payment hub company is bringing payment options to the industry right now, having just raised $2.86 million to accelerate sales.
This new payment facility adds further credence to the legal marijuana sector, which is already seeing record growth.
Companies on the leading edge of the legal cannabis category include AmeriCann, Inc. (OTC: ACAN), Canopy Growth Inc. (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), and MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. (CSE: MYM) (OTC: MYMMF).
It's been a banner year so far for large growers and medicinal marijuana companies. But payment systems and financial infrastructure remain one of the major challenges for the fledgling industry. Payment processor PayQwick promises to provide solutions from Seed-to-Sale.
Leaders in the cannabis industry whole heartedly endorse new advances that could help their business including AmeriCann, Inc. (OTCQB: ACAN), Canopy Growth Inc. (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV). These are companies that could take advantage of new payment systems to rapidly expand their market and broaden access.
Licensed Cannabis Producers (or LPs) that are not only in the grower end of the business, but also integrating product development, sales and distribution may experience the biggest benefit. MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. (CSE: MYM) (OTC: MYMMF), is an example of this category with three growing operations under development and diversification into multi-brand development and product distribution.
IT'S LIKE PAYPAL FOR POT
PayQwick's platform allows legal marijuana businesses to pay each other electronically. It reduces the cash that these businesses handle, boosts the security of payment processing and ultimately increases efficiency.
Because of PayQwick's stringent Bank Secrecy Act and Anti Money Laundering compliance programs, its clients can attain regular business bank accounts without hiding their involvement in the cannabis industry.
These are critical areas that the cannabis business in the U.S. and in Canada have been struggling with as the demands for larger volumes of weed have been ratcheting up.
It seems that Federal laws that still prohibit cannabis have kept mainstream banking and financial institutions from taking on the "specialized" area of payment transactions. But PayQwick is fully invested in the sector and accelerating its sales.
Its recently announced funding round of $2.86 million is a next step in helping growth with the clients. And grow they will.
Like Canada, which has been a front runner in the push to legalize marijuana, California looks as though it is going to be the first state to have a fully functional legal recreational cannabis market open for business. According to a California State bureau spokesman, they will be "ready to go on Jan. 1, 2018."
PayQwick is currently licensed to operate in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, and has begun beta operations in Colorado. It plans next to expand into California, Nevada, Michigan and Alaska.
Couple that demand with what appears to soon be legal recreational pot in Canada, and you have what looks like a real boom -one that will see unprecedented demand for weed as little as a year from now.
And since people need a way to pay, PayQwick appears to be right on the money in this emerging marketplace.
GREAT FOR DIVERSIFIED CANNABIS COMPANIES
Based on the further legalization of marijuana, certain companies will need the kind of online and integrated payment systems offered by PayQwick. MYM Nutraceuticals counts itself in this group.
MYM Nutraceuticals is one of the newer companies in the cannabis space that is establishing significant production capabilities backed by fully integrated R&D, products and distribution.
The company, through its majority-owned subsidiary CannCanada signed an exclusive deal with the Quebec town of Weedon to build a 1.5 million-square-foot cannabis production facility in 2016. At completion, this massive marijuana operation will be one of the largest grow operations on the planet with the potential to produce over 150,000 kg of cannabis per year.
MYM also just announced its strategic partnership with the Australian firm PUF Ventures for the development of a one million square foot growing operation in the New South Whales city of Casino. It will be Australia's largest marijuana growing operation when completed.
MYM is also has a smaller growing facility in Laval, Quebec, which it expects to bring online by the end of this year
Beyond its growing capacity, MYM Nutraceuticals is diversifying by advancing formulation and production to support branding and distribution of its entities Joshua Tree, MyHemp Skin Therapy, and HempMed offerings.
These companies develop and sell a variety of products including custom-made cannabis products with tailored CBD chemistries along with tinctures, concentrates and oils, edibles, vape products and pet care products.
Here is where MYM and others can utilize the payment hub services like PayQwick the most. MYM Nutraceuticals expects to carry out online transactions for sales of its products direct to consumers and the industry. Like other payment hub technology, PayQwick would reduce risk and speed payments.
"Our primary goals when we launched PayQwick were to allow legal marijuana businesses to pay each other electronically and to promote public safety by reducing the amount of cash handled by cannabis businesses," said Keith Marks, CEO and co-founder of PayQwick. "Our app allows growers and retailers to do just that with a swipe of a finger."
This model is likely to become more common in other areas too as the industry matures and seeks more sophisticated solutions from processors.
If the cannabis business will experience an aggregate of 300% growth in legal U.S. sales between 2016 and 2021, as the numbers suggest, Cannabis sales will reach the expected $17 billion mark or better.
The level of transactions to be processed in this scenario are staggering, and the industry will have to find ways to accommodate the demand for legitimate systems.
While the big financial institutions sit on the fence, smaller players like PayQwick working with forward thinking companies, could be some of the biggest winners.
POTENTIAL COMPARABLES
AmeriCann, Inc. (OTCQB: ACAN)
AmeriCann, Inc. develops, owns and supports advanced medical cannabis cultivation and processing facilities nationwide. The Company has a multi-market portfolio of over 1,000,000 square feet of sustainable cannabis production infrastructure in various stages of development. To support local businesses that seek to serve cannabis patients in their communities the company initiated the AmeriCann Preferred Partner Program. Through this program they provide an essential set of resources including advance cultivation facilities, access to a team of experts and in certain cases, capital for our partner's businesses. In addition, AmeriCann's team has been instrumental in winning cannabis licenses in competitive application processes throughout the country.
Canopy Growth Inc. (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF)
The granddaddy of the corporate cannabis sector, Canopy Growth is the world's largest diversified cannabis company. Canopy boasts a wide offering of distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and capsule forms. Most widely recognized is Canopy's subsidiary Tweed which is the world's most recognized marijuana production brand, as well as an industry educator. Accompanying Tweed in Canopy's portfolio is medical-grade cannabis producers Bedrocan Canada. In total, Canopy Growth's numerous state-of-the-art production facilities total over half a million square feet of GMP-certified indoor and greenhouse production capacity.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV)
AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a biologic therapy administered as a subcutaneous injection to treat autoimmune diseases; IMBRUVICA, an oral therapy for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and VIEKIRA PAK, an interferon-free therapy, with or without ribavirin, for the treatment of adults with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C.
For a more in-depth look into MYM you can view the in-depth report at USA News Group: http://usanewsgroup.com/2017/11/12/the_marijuana_boom_is_here_to_stay-2-2-2-2/
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USA News Group
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